Process for the Accelerated Production of Objects by Means of Generative Manufacturing

ABSTRACT

A process for the layer-by-layer construction of a three-dimensional object (3) from a pulverulent construction material by means of successively solidifying layers of the pulverulent construction material in each case at those sites of a layer which correspond to a cross section of the object, wherein the solidification is accomplished by introducing heat energy, has the following steps for each layer: a step of providing a layer of a pulverulent construction material, a step of preheating the applied construction material to a preheating temperature, below the temperature at which the material is solidified, and a step of solidifying the applied layer by means of electromagnetic radiation or particle radiation (7), wherein, in the solidification step, during a predetermined period of time, the start of which coincides with the beginning of the solidification step, the quantity of heat introduced per unit area is reduced over time and can be described by a function which decreases monotonously depending on the time.

The present invention refers to a method for a layer-wise manufacturing of three-dimensional objects by means of additive manufacturing and to a corresponding device. In particular, the present invention refers to a method and a device, in which the manufacturing time is reduced.

Methods for a layer-wise additive manufacturing of three-dimensional objects are for example described in EP 1 486 317 B1. In case a powder is used as starting material for the manufacture, which powder is sintered and melted, respectively, by the introduction of heat energy, the building process usually proceeds such that a CAD model of the object to be manufactured is prepared, which model is dissected into layers, and subsequently the building material is solidified layer-wise corresponding to cross-sections of the CAD model.

For each powder layer the building process proceeds as follows:

After the application of a building material layer in powder form onto an already solidified layer, at first the newly applied powder layer is pre-heated by means of a radiative heating up to a working temperature below the temperature at which it is solidified. Thereupon, radiation (such as a laser beam) is directed onto the pre-heated layer for a selective solidification of the building material. After all layers of the object have been manufactured, the latter is allowed to cool down and the object is removed from the unsolidified powder that surrounds the object.

The production method described above is primarily used for a quick manufacturing of prototypes and models, respectively. The advantage of the method for the manufacturing of prototypes and models, respectively, is that the method allows the manufacturing of a large bandwidth of prototypes and models, respectively, without the need for manufacturing tools adapted to the type of the respective model to be manufactured, which tools have to be produced in advance with a high effort. Therefore, compared to a conventional method, the manufacturing of the prototype and model, respectively, may take place within a relatively short time. Therefore, also the term “rapid prototyping” is used for this type of method.

Due to the universality of an additive manufacturing method there are more and more considerations to apply such a method also to the series production of products. As compared for example to an injection molding method, one is no longer tied to the existence of a tool specifically adapted to the product to be manufactured, layer-wise additive manufacturing methods are in particular suitable for the manufacturing of small series or else even for the manufacturing of individually adapted products, because a variation of the product geometry and of the product properties is possible with a minimum effort. For this type of series production the term “rapid manufacturing” has become accepted.

For a series production of objects in particular two boundary conditions have to be fulfilled:

At first, one has to provide for a stable product quality. This is what EP 1 486 317 B1 does by building and measuring test specimens during the series production.

Furthermore, the manufacturing process has to be accelerated, because due to the sequential layer-wise construction an additive manufacturing method is prima facie slower than a conventional method such as an injection molding method. Here, there are already approaches to a process acceleration in EP 1 896 246 B1. In EP 1 896 246 B1 a swap container is presented, in which the object is manufactured and which can be removed from the manufacturing device after the termination of the manufacturing process, so that the cooling-down may occur outside of the manufacturing device and the manufacturing device is immediately again available for a new manufacturing process.

Albeit already by the process according to EP 1 896 246 B1 a remarkable acceleration of the manufacturing process may be achieved (the cooling-down process may last a few hours), by the device in EP 1 896 246 B1 the sequential layer-wise construction itself is not accelerated.

Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a device and a method allowing a more rapid sequential layer-wise manufacturing of objects.

The object is achieved by a method according to claim 1 and a device according to claim 8. Further developments of the invention are given in the dependent claims.

The invention is based on the idea that the time necessary for a pre-heating of a freshly applied powder layer up to the working temperature can be reduced by making use of the fact that the powder layer can heat up further during the irradiation process. However, as the mechanical properties of the parts and their geometries will be influenced by the temperature of the powder layer at the time of exposure, when proceeding in such a way the heat energy introduced by the exposure has to be the larger the more the temperature of the powder layer at the time of exposure differs from the target pre-heating temperature (working temperature). If the powder material is too cool during the solidification, the solidification will be incomplete, leading for example to a reduction of the elongation at break of the objects perpendicular to the layers (in z-direction). Furthermore, for a pre-heating temperature that is too low, the dimensions of the parts are smaller than the nominal dimensions, because a smaller amount of the powder surrounding the object to be manufactured is solidified too in the peripheral region of the object.

In the following, the invention will be described by embodiments using the attached drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 shows a device for a layer-wise manufacturing of three-dimensional objects from a building material in powder form according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a graph illustrating the progression of the elongation at break in z with the time of exposure for a pre-test with z-tensile bars,

FIG. 3 shows a graph illustrating the dependence of the cross-sectional area on the time of exposure for a pre-test with z-tensile bars according to DIN ISO 527-1 and DIN ISO 527-2 type 1B,

FIG. 4 shows a graph illustrating the temporal dependence of a pre-factor, by which the luminous flux emitted by the laser in a period from the start of the exposure of a layer has to be multiplied,

FIG. 5 shows a graph that illustrates the progression of the z elongation at break in dependence on the time of exposure for a test run with z-tensile bars, for which z-tensile bars the luminous flux emitted by the laser had been reduced by and by during a period of twelve seconds from the start of the exposure, and

FIG. 6 shows a graph illustrating the dependence of the cross-sectional area on the time of exposure for a test run with z-tensile bars, for which z-tensile bars the luminous flux emitted by the laser had been reduced by and by during a period of twelve seconds from the start of the exposure.

At first, with reference to FIG. 1 the construction of a device according to the invention for manufacturing three-dimensional objects by means of an additive layer-wise manufacturing method is described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the object 3 to be manufactured is produced layer-wise on a building support 2. The building support 2 forms the bottom of a container open to the top, in which container the building process takes place and a frame 1 forms the sidewalls thereof. The building support 2 is connected to a lifting mechanism 4 that is able to move the building support in a vertical direction. With its upper end the frame 1 encloses a construction field 5, in which the solidification takes place. A recoater 11 for applying a layer of a powder material in the construction field is arranged above the construction field 5. Here, all powders that may be solidified by introduction of heat can be used as powder materials such as polymer powders, metal powders, ceramic powders or even also composite powders composed of different materials. Furthermore, fillers and/or additives may be added to the powders.

In addition, FIG. 1 shows schematically an application device 12 that can be moved in a horizontal direction and serves for smoothing an applied powder layer. Furthermore, an irradiation device consisting of a laser 6 is provided, which laser 6 generates a laser beam 7 that can be directed to arbitrary points in the construction field 5 by means of a deflection device 8. By the action of the laser beam 7 onto the powder material the powder material can be heated selectively in the construction field, so that as a result it becomes solidified at those positions that correspond to a cross-section of the object 3 to be manufactured.

Furthermore, the device according to the invention includes a heating device 9 above the construction field 5, which heats a newly applied powder layer up to a working temperature below a temperature at which the solidification of the powder material occurs. Preferably, the heating device (9) is a radiative heating (e.g. one or more radiant heaters) which is able to introduce heat energy in a large area of the newly applied powder layer by emitting electromagnetic radiation. Reference sign 10 designates a control device that is connected to the laser 6, the deflection device 8, the recoater 11, the application device 12 and the lifting mechanism 4 and which controls the building process. Not shown in FIG. 1 is a case that surrounds the frame 1, the lifting mechanism 4, the laser 6, the deflection device 8, the recoater 11 and the application device 12.

In the following, the course of an inventive process for a layer-wise additive construction of a three-dimensional object is described:

At first the building support 2 is moved by means of the lifting mechanism 4 to a position, at which the top side of the building support 2 or of a building platform arranged on it lies just under the upper edge of the frame 1. Then, the powder material applied by the recoater 11 is homogenously spread on the building support 2 or the building platform by means of the application device 12. Here, the vertical distance to the upper edge of the frame 1 that was set at the beginning defines the thickness of the applied layer. Then, a waiting time is introduced. Within such waiting time the applied powder layer is pre-heated by means of the heating device 9 up to a working temperature below a temperature, at which the building material is solidified by the action of the laser beam. Preferably, also the heating device 9 is connected to the control device 10. Preferably, the temperature of the pre-heated building material layer is controlled by a temperature measuring device 14. The temperature measuring device 14 may be a pyrometer, which measures the surface temperature of the applied layer in a region of the construction field 5, wherein the region, if possible, should lie outside of the object 3 during the whole construction of the object 3. As soon as the desired powder layer temperature has been reached, the powder layer is solidified by depositing heat energy by means of the laser beam in the region corresponding to the cross-section of the object. Thereupon, the building support 2 is lowered again by an amount corresponding to a layer thickness of the building material, building material is applied again, pre-heated, selectively solidified, etc. until the construction process of the object is complete.

According to the invention the solidification already starts before the applied powder layer has reached the desired working temperature. If e.g. the working temperature lies at approximately 175° C., according to the invention the solidification will be already started when the powder layer temperature lies still at approximately 2° C. below the working temperature. However, when proceeding as such, during a predetermined period from the start of the directing of the laser beam 7 onto the positions of the construction field 5 within the cross-section of the object more heat energy per unit area is introduced in order to compensate the powder layer temperature that is too low. In order to do so, the control device 10 varies the radiant flux and/or the deflection velocity of the laser beam 7 while the same sweeps over those positions of the construction field that correspond to the cross-section.

In the end, during a predetermined space of time that starts with the start of the solidification the heat energy per unit area introduced into the material by the laser beam 7 is continuously lowered as during the predetermined space of time the heating device 9 continuously introduces further heat energy into the powder layer. For example, the radiant flux φ emitted by the laser 6 is reduced by and by following a given function f (φ(t)=φ₀·f(t)). Here, the function f(t) can explicitly be described by a polynomial or may be defined by function values f(t) stored in a table that change with time. Here, the time is the elapsed time since the start of the exposure process of a layer. The value φ₀ is a certain basic radiant flux, for which an arbitrary value may be chosen, because the size of f can be adapted to φ₀ (by multiplying f with a constant factor).

Then, after the predetermined period has elapsed, for the remaining duration of the exposure the heat energy introduced per unit area by the laser is kept constant, even if this need not necessarily be the case for the present invention.

The function that the heat introduction per unit area follows during the predetermined period may be determined empirically by pre-tests at parts or test specimen. In the following, a method is described for gaining such a function:

At first, objects (e.g. tensile rods according to ISO 527) are manufactured in an additive layer-wise manufacturing device (for example the device of FIG. 1) in a test run. In order to do so, e.g. groups of five tensile rods are manufactured such that the groups are exposed at different points in time from the start of the exposure of a layer. For example, a waiting time (e.g. 2 seconds) is inserted after the solidification process for one group before the next group is exposed. Here, the exposure process is started before the desired working temperature has been reached, which means like in the manufacturing process of the actual objects, e.g. already when the temperature measuring device 14 shows a value of e.g. approximately 2° C. below the desired working temperature.

In the pre-test one has to make sure that the temperatures of the test objects (e.g. groups of tensile rods) that are located at different positions in the construction space are not influenced by their positions in the construction space, for example for a peripheral position the heat dissipation to the surrounding of the construction space is higher than for a position in the center of the construction space.

After the construction of the parts the mechanical properties of the tensile rods are measured according to DIN 527-1 and DIN ISO 527-2 type 1B, wherein mean values are determined for each group. Due to the different times of exposure of the different groups of tensile rods in such a pre-test, the applied powder layer for the respective groups of tensile rods has been pre-heated to different temperatures when a solidification with the laser beam is carried out. By an analysis of the mechanical properties (such as the elongation at break in z) and of the geometry (such as the cross-sectional area of the z-tensile rods) in dependence of the time, the influence of the pre-heating temperature onto the mechanical properties and onto the geometry of the objects to be manufactured is obtained.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the respective curve progressions for the elongation at break in z and the cross-sectional area, which were determined in an exemplary pre-test. According to the invention, based on such a pre-test an exposure parameter such as the emitted radiant flux is determined for individual points in time during a predetermined period from the start of the exposure and such exposure parameters are stored in a table. For example, assuming a value of 1 for the emitted radiant flux φ₀ after the predetermined period has elapsed, a prefactor (function value f(t)) can be stored in the table for the predetermined period, by which pre-factor such emitted radiant flux φ₀ has to be multiplied during the predetermined period. FIG. 4 shows the dependence of such a prefactor on time.

Based on the values in the table now the emitted radiant flux during the predetermined period may then either be reduced in steps or a monotonically decreasing function f(t) is fitted to the values in the table. FIGS. 5 and 6 show the elongation at break in z and the cross-sectional area for a test run with z-tensile rods, for which (at otherwise identical building parameters) the emitted radiant flux was reduced by and by during a period of 12 seconds from the start of the exposure. When compared to FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seen that for the elongation at break in z and for the cross-sectional area nearly constant values are obtained independent from the time of exposure.

Of course one could try determining the heat energy to be introduced per unit area at the start of the exposure period by means of a theoretical function. However, the heat energy to be introduced depends on the powder material and furthermore will also be determined by the type and arrangement of the heating device 9. Therefore, it is most advantageous to determine function values by means of the described pre-test.

Here, which types of parts should be used for the pre-tests depends on the properties that are most important for the object that shall actually be produced.

For the pre-tests not necessarily z-tensile rods need to be used. Alternatively, the tests could also be carried out with the object that shall actually be produced. As a series production is carried out after the pre-tests, the effort for pre-tests is acceptable in view of the possible time that may be saved thereby in the series production.

It shall also be emphasized that the heat energy to be introduced per unit area at the start of the exposure period for a layer may also be determined by pre-tests, in which not the influence of the powder pre-heating temperature onto the mechanical properties and onto the geometry of the pre-test parts is determined, but rather the influence of the powder pre-heating temperature onto another property of the pre-test parts such as the surface quality is determined.

The heat energy per unit area introduced into the building material for a solidification of the same need not necessarily be varied by a variation of the emitted radiant flux. Here, also alternative approaches are possible:

The energy introduced per unit area can also be varied by varying the velocity with which the laser sweeps over the construction field 5. The faster the laser beam moves across the construction field 5 the lower the heat energy per unit time that is introduced into the building material. Thus, for reducing gradually the heat energy that is introduced per unit area, it is possible to move the laser beam at the start of the predetermined period with a lower velocity over the construction field 5 than after the elapse of the predetermined period. Furthermore, the heat energy introduced per unit area also depends on the distance of neighboring beam paths of the laser beam sweeping across the construction field. This means that a gradual reduction of the heat energy introduced per unit area into the material can also be achieved by gradually increasing the distance of neighboring paths of the laser beam 7.

Furthermore, it shall be emphasized that the emitted radiant flux for a pulsed operation may also be varied by changing the frequency or the duty factor.

In all described cases the control device 10 adjusts the respective parameters in dependence of the time.

In case in a series production of the objects one proceeds such that the contour of a respective cross-section of the object and the inside of the cross-section are solidified separately, the adaptation of the heat energy introduced per unit area described above has to be respectively applied to the exposure of the contour and the exposure of the inside of the cross-section, depending on whether the contour or the inside of the cross-section are exposed first.

In a further development of the method according to the invention not only the heat energy introduced per unit area is varied. Rather, during the predetermined period the “beam offset” is adapted too. The beam offset denotes an amount, by which the laser beam is shifted inwards at the contour of the object in order to take into account a.o. that due to heat conduction the powder immediately outside of the region to be solidified is solidified too, whereby the object dimensions change. Accordingly, at the start of the exposure period a smaller beam offset is set and this beam offset is gradually increased during the predetermined period.

The length of the predetermined period, during which the heat energy introduced per unit area is reduced by and by or the beam offset is increased by and by can be determined by means of the described pre-tests. As soon as the mechanical properties that have been determined by the pre-tests and/or the object dimensions in the pre-tests lie within a range of tolerance defined for the object to be manufactured in a series production, a variation of the exposure parameters is no longer necessary. Thus, it is possible to determine by the pre-tests that point in time from the start of the exposure, at which the properties lie within the range of tolerance. Such point in time then defines the end of the predetermined period. As experience has shown, the predetermined period lies in a range from 1 to 15 seconds. However, in particular for large layer thicknesses also longer periods are possible.

Though in the above always a solidification of the building material by means of a laser beam was mentioned, the present invention is not limited to this type of introduction of heat energy. The heat energy necessary for a solidification can in the same way be introduced areally. Therefore, the region of incidence onto the powder layer of the radiation used for the solidification of the material can generally be termed “solidification radiation incidence region”. The invention will always lead to an advantageous acceleration of the building process in cases, in which not all positions of the cross-section of the object are simultaneously solidified, but different positions of the object cross-section are solidified at different points in time. In the same way, the present invention is not limited to the use of electromagnetic radiation. Rather, it can be implemented in the same way in conjunction with particle radiation for introducing heat energy into the building material. Finally, the present invention includes methods, in which the building material is completely melted as well as methods, in which a sintering occurs, wherein the powder particles are only melted at their surfaces. 

1. A method for a layer-wise construction of a three-dimensional object from a building material in powder form by means of a sequential solidification of layers of the building material in powder form at those positions of a layer that correspond to the cross-section of the object, wherein the solidification is effected by introducing heat energy and the method for each layer comprises the following steps: a step of providing a layer of a building material in powder form on a building support or a layer that has been previously solidified at selected positions, a step of pre-heating the applied building material up to a pre-heating temperature below the temperature at which the material is solidified and a step of solidifying the applied layer by means of electromagnetic radiation or particle radiation, in which step a solidification radiation incidence region sequentially sweeps over all positions of the layer corresponding to the cross-section of the object so that the powder at these positions is solidified by the heat energy introduced by the radiation, characterized in that in the solidification step the heat energy introduced per unit area in the solidification radiation incidence region is reduced with time during a predetermined period the start of which coincides with the start of the solidification step and can be described by a function monotonically decreasing with time.
 2. The method according to claim 1, in which the solidification is effected by means of at least one photon or particle beam that is directed sequentially onto positions of the layer to be solidified.
 3. The method according to claim 1, in which the solidification is effected by means of electromagnetic radiation and the solidification radiation incidence region is an area.
 4. The method according to claim 1, in which the monotonically decreasing function is empirically determined by determining in pre-tests the temperature change of the building material layer for a heating-up to temperatures below the temperature at which the solidification is carried out, in which pre-tests a plurality of objects to be manufactured or a plurality of test specimens is manufactured, cross-sections of the objects to be manufactured or of the test specimens are solidified at different points in time from the start of the solidification step of a layer and after the end of the building process a property of the objects or test specimens to be manufactured is determined and the mentioned function, according to which the heat amount introduced per unit area is reduced during the predetermined period and the length of the predetermined period are determined based on the determined property of the objects (3) or test specimens to be manufactured.
 5. The method according to claim 4, in which the property determined at the objects or test specimens to be manufactured is a mechanical property, a dimension or a parameter for describing the surface quality.
 6. The method according to claim 1, in which the heat amount introduced per unit area is reduced by reducing the radiant flux in the solidification radiation incidence region that is sweeping over the powder.
 7. The method according to claim 1, in which the heat amount introduced per unit area is reduced by an increase of the velocity with which the solidification radiation incidence region sweeps over the powder layer.
 8. A device for a layer-wise construction of a three-dimensional object according to a method according to claim 1, wherein the device comprises: a building support for carrying the object to be formed; an application device for applying a layer of the building material in powder form onto the surface of the support or an already at least partially solidified layer, a heating device, which is able to supply heat energy for an areal pre-heating of the building material layer in powder form, an irradiation device that emits electromagnetic radiation or particle radiation and is able to sweep with a solidification radiation incidence region sequentially over all positions of the layer that correspond to the cross-section of the object, such that the powder at these positions is solidified by the heat energy introduced by the radiation, and a control device that controls the device for a layer-wise construction such that after a lowering of the building support by an amount corresponding to a layer thickness, the application device applies a layer of the building material in powder form onto the building support or a layer that has already been solidified at selected positions, and subsequently the irradiation device solidifies the building material in powder form in a region corresponding to a cross-section of the object by sweeping a solidification radiation incidence region sequentially over all positions of the layer corresponding to the cross-section of the object such that the powder at these positions is solidified by the heat energy introduced by the radiation, wherein the control device controls the irradiation device such that during a predetermined period from the start of the solidification of the powder in a powder layer by the irradiation device the heat amount introduced per unit area into the building material in powder form by the irradiation device in the solidification radiation incidence region decreases in correspondence to a function decreasing monotonically with time.
 9. The device according to claim 8 having a temperature measuring device that is able to make a contactless measurement of the temperature of a partial region of a powder layer. 